The copy and paste functionality for controls is accessed through the following options in the context menu:

Copy Selection

Copies the selected controls to the clipboard.

Paste World Transforms

Moves the selected controls to the world position of the controls that were copied with the Copy Selection option. The paste operation tries to match up the control names that are copy/pasted.

If multiple controls are selected with Copy Selection, and the paste operation is not able to match up the control names between the copy and paste operations, the selected controls for the paste operation is moved to the position of the primary control from the Copy Selection. The primary control is the control on which the transform handle is placed during the copy operation.

Paste Local Transforms

Performs the same local transforms on the selected controls as was done on the Copy Selection controls. The paste operation tries to match up the control names that are copy/pasted.

If multiple controls are selected with Copy Selection, and the paste operation is not able to match up the control names between the copy and paste operations, the selected controls for the paste operation is moved to the local position of the primary control from the Copy Selection. The primary control is the control on which the transform handle is placed during the copy operation.

In the animate state, you can mirror the position, rotation, and scale of controls. To mirror controls on a single character or on multiple characters:

1. Select the control(s) you want to mirror. Hold ⇧ Shift or box select to select multiple controls.

2. click in the viewport and select Mirror with Default or Mirror with Plane:

   • Mirror with Default mirrors the selected controls across the same plane that the rig is mirrored across without any additional user input. The plane that the rig controls are mirrored across is determined in the rig setup.

   • Mirror with Plane puts you in the mirror pose state, where you can adjust the mirror plane. Press ⌃ Ctrl + G to bring up a HUD with the mirror settings, which allow you to set certain configurations before mirroring is applied. Press Enter while hovering over the viewport to apply the mirroring.

In the example below, Electra’s leg controls (left image) are mirrored to the other side of the rig (right image).

For singular controls that don’t have an equivalent control on the other side of the rig (for example, the spine and chest controls), mirroring is performed by flipping the control across the mirror plane:

How-to ¶

To...	Do this
Specify how the controls on the rig are named	Use the APEX Configure Character SOP to specify how the controls on the rig are named if they are named differently than the default <control>_l and <control>_r that is expected by the mirroring operation. The APEX Configure Character SOP takes in a packed character: For example, if the rig has controls named like leg_l_ik, set the following parameters: Token Position = Middle. Left Token = _l_ Right Token = _r_ The mirror pattern is stored in the detail attribute mirror_pattern on the character rig. To view the mirror_pattern attribute, extract the rig using the Unpack Folder SOP, and use the geometry spreadsheet: In the Unpack Folder SOP, set Extract Pattern to /**/*rig. Select the Unpack Folder SOP in the network view. At the top of the pane where you want to open the geometry spreadsheet, click the New Tab icon and select New Pane Tab Type ▸ Inspectors ▸ Geometry Spreadsheet. In the geometry spreadsheet, select Detail from the top toolbar. click the entry in the properties row under the Detail column, and select Inspect. The Inspect Attribute window that pops up will display the following mirror pattern: "mirror_pattern":{ "left_pattern":"*_l_*", "right_pattern":"*_r_*" The controls named with the *_l_* and *_r_* pattern are now recognized by the mirroring operation. Note If there is no mirror_pattern in the detail attribute on the rig, the default pattern of *_l and *_r is used.
Swap the poses on the two sides of a character	Select the “mirrored” controls on both sides of the character, for example, arm_l and arm_r. click in the viewport and select Mirror with Default or Mirror with Plane. The example below displays the original pose (left image) and the swapped pose after mirroring (right image).
Perform mirroring on the selected control	Select the control(s) you want to mirror. click in the viewport and select Mirror with Plane. In the mirror settings, turn off Mirror to Opposite Control. Adjust the mirror plane in the viewport using the handle. Press Enter.
Mirror a character in world space	Select all the controls on a character. click in the viewport and select Mirror with Plane. Move the mirror plane in the viewport using the handle. Press Enter.
Mirror the control position while keeping the original orientation	Select the control(s) you want to mirror. click in the viewport and select Mirror with Plane. In the mirror settings, go to the Advanced tab. In the Components field, deselect the rotate (R) and scale (S). Press Enter. In the example below, only the position of Electra’s hand is mirrored. The rotation of Electra’s right hand remains unchanged.
Mirror across a joint	Select the control(s) you want to mirror. click in the viewport and select Mirror with Plane. Select a joint on the character to mirror the controls across. Press Enter.
Change the live preview options	In the settings HUD, Mirror Settings ▸ Advanced tab, set the Live Preview and Outline Overlay options.
Adjust the planes of multiple characters	Select controls on multiple characters. click in the viewport and select Mirror with Plane. In the mirror settings, turn on Move Planes Together.
Fix strange rotations when mirroring	In the mirror settings, try selecting different axes in the Flip Axes option.
Override the plane that the rig controls are mirrored across	The mirroring operation expects the controls on the rig to be mirrored across the YZ plane. This is the default rig mirror plane. If the controls are mirrored across a non-YZ plane on the rig, this must be specified in one of two ways: Use the APEX Configure Character SOP and set the Rig Symmetry Plane parameter to the plane that the rig controls are mirrored across when the character is at rest position. See “Specify how the controls on the rig are named” above for information on where to place the APEX Configure Character SOP in the network and how to view the mirror axis information in the geometry spreadsheet. The mirror axis information is stored in the mirror_axis detail attribute on the rig. It has the following format, which can be viewed in the geometry spreadsheet: "mirror_axis":[1,0,0] For example, if Rig Symmetry Plane is set to XY in the APEX Configure Character SOP, then setting Rig Mirror Plane to Use Rig Value in the mirror settings (Advanced tab) will tell the mirroring operation that the controls on the rig are mirrored across the XY plane. The APEX Configure Character SOP adds this information directly on the rig. or If the rig mirror plane has not been set properly in the rig, the Rig Mirror Plane option in the mirror settings can be used to specify the plane that the rig controls are mirrored across when the character is at rest position. Note The rig mirror plane is the plane that the controls are mirrored across within the rig. The mirror plane is the plane that is used to perform the mirroring operation in the animate state. You should not change the Rig Mirror Plane value in the mirror settings to set the position/orientation of the plane for mirroring. Use the mirror plane handle in the viewport for the mirroring operation instead.
Specify the controls that are selected after mirroring	In the mirror settings, Advanced tab, set the Selection Mode option.
Move the mirror plane back to the local rig plane	in the viewport and select Revert ▸ Revert Handle to Default Values.

A locator is an element that is added to the animate state for use as a pivot point for rotating groups of controls. It can be used to perform FK-type posing for a character. A locator is not part of the rig.

Locators are created using the Add Locator tool, which can be accessed by clicking Add Locator on the top toolbar, or selecting Add Locator from the radial menu (press C over the viewport).

Options for transient contraints can be set in the settings HUD, Animate Settings ▸ Transient Constraints tab.

In this example, we want to transfer the ball from one hand to another. The original animation is shown below:

1. Constrain the ball to the hand:

   • Select the driven object (ball), hold SHIFT, then select the driver (hand).

   • On the timeline, select the range of frames to make the constraint active (hold SHIFT and drag on the timeline).

   • Hover over the viewport and press A.

   The constraint is created between the ball and the hand, and the keys for the ball are baked to every frame in the selected frame range.

   Note

   The constraint behavior is only active within the transient constraint frame range.

   An arrow visualizer shows the constraint relationship between the ball and hand:

   

2. Fix the position of the ball on the hand.

   Once the transient constraint is created, the driven object (ball) can be moved around, and the changes are automatically applied to the entire frame range that the transient control is active. Make sure you are currently within the frame range that the transient control is active, or the changes will not be applied to the entire frame range.

   Note

   If the changes are not applied to the entire transient control frame range, make sure that Auto Update Follow Ranges is turned on in the settings HUD, Animate Settings ▸ Transient Constraints tab.

3. Constrain the ball to the other hand.

4. Fix the ball on the second hand.

5. Fix the pop on the animation as the ball transitions from one hand to the other.

   • Select the ball (driven object).

   • Click in the timeline so that the current frame is within the frame range of the first transient constraint.

   • In the settings HUD, Animate Settings ▸ Transient Contraints tab, click the button. This updates the offset on the ball to match the frame after the current contraint range so that there is a smooth transition between the current range and the next range.

6. Fix the hand on the first constraint range without moving the ball. Select the hand (driver), hold ⇧ Shift + A, and adjust the hand.

Regular (non-transient) constraints are created and updated in the Add Constraints tool, which can be accessed by clicking Add Constraint on the top toolbar, or selecting Add Constraint from the radial menu (press C over the viewport).

To replace the current motion paths in an animation with dynamic motion:

1. Select the center of mass control(s) that will be used to calculate the dynamic motion path, and press H over the viewport.

   To see the entire dynamic motion path, go into the settings HUD (press Ctrl+G over the viewport), Dynamic Motion Settings ▸ Path Settings tab, and turn off Limit Number of Frames. The path of the current keyframed animation with rough posing will be shown.

2. Set the start and end of a section of dynamic motion:

   • On the playbar timeline, move the animation to the start of the first jump, and press H over the viewport.

   • Move to the end of the first jump and press H over the viewport. The path of the first jump will be replaced with dynamic motion.

3. Add dynamic motion for the remaining jumps:

At this point, the dynamic motion can only be seen within the Dynamic Motion tool, and not in the default Animate mode. To put the dynamic motion back onto the original animation:

1. Press Ctrl+G to bring up the settings HUD.

2. In the Dynamic Motion Settings ▸ Bake tab, click Update Keys.

   The existing keyframes will be moved to the dynamic motion path.

To adjust the start position, end position, and height of the dynamic motion, enter advanced mode in the dynamic motion tool:

1. Press G over the viewport to bring up the parameters HUD.

2. In the Dynamic Motion tab, set Mode to Advanced.

3. In the dialog that pops up, choose whether to work on a new animation layer or on the current layer. In advanced mode, changing the height of the dynamic motion results in the entire animation needing to be retimed. As a result, you are locked into working on one animation layer and will be prompted if you try to switch layers.

4. In the Dynamic Motion Source Animation window, choose the character rig(s) you want the retiming to be applied to. For example, if you have a character throwing a ball in the air, select the rigs for both the character and the ball. In this way, if you increase the height of the ball’s dynamic motion arc, the character’s hand motion will also slow down to catch the ball even though the ball is in the air for longer.

5. Click Accept.

   In advanced mode, the dynamic motion controls (start position, end position, and height) are displayed. You could set the visibility of these controls using selection sets - the dynamic motion controls are found under All Controls ▸ dynamicmotion.

6. Adjust the height of the dynamic motion by selecting the height plane that appears at the top of the dynamic motion arc, and adjusting the handles:

   Note

   Select the height plane and press R to switch the transform handle to rotate mode. This allows you to rotate the plane so that the dynamic motion path skims the plane instead of reaching a specific height.

7. Change the start or end position of a dynamic motion section by selecting the green/red arrow at the start/end of the dynamic motion path, and adjusting the position using the handle:

If you try to switch to another animation layer while in advanced mode, a prompt will appear with the following options:

Before using the ragdoll tool, perform the following setup steps:

1. Update the Electra skeleton with a set of joint limits.

2. Create ragdoll collision shapes for Electra.

3. Add the collision shapes to the list of Electra character elements.

4. Map the controls on Electra’s rig to points on Electra’s skeleton.

5. (Optional) Set the ragdoll configurations used by the animate state.

See ragdoll simulations for more information.

1. On the Electra test geometry, set the Output parameter to APEX Character.

2. Set joint limits on the Electra skeleton:

   • The Unpack Folder SOP, skeleton, extracts the skeleton from Electra. Set the Extract Pattern parameter to /Base.skel.

   • The Configure Joint Limits SOP sets joint limits on the Electra skeleton. See set joint limits for more information.

3. Create ragdoll collision shapes:

   • The Unpack Folder SOP, skin, extracts the skin geometry from Electra. Set the Extract Pattern parameter to /Base.shp.

   • The Ragdoll Collision Shapes SOP creates collision shapes for Electra. See create collision shapes for more information.

   Note

   In the SOP workflow for ragdoll simulations, the Rig Stash Pose SOP creates the rest pose for the character by storing the rest_transform attribute that is used later by the ragdoll solver. In contrast, the ragdoll solver in the animate state reads the rest transform from the rest skeleton, Base.skel. However, a warning is still displayed on the Configure Joint Limits and Ragdoll Collision Shapes SOPs stating that no rest transform is configured, but this warning can be ignored.

4. The Pack Folder SOP adds the updated skeleton (with joint limits) and ragdoll collision shapes to the set of character files.

   Set the Name and Type parameters to:

   • Updated skeleton: Name = Base, Type = skel.

   • Ragdoll shapes: Name = RagdollCollision. The Name and Type parameters for the ragdoll shapes can be set to anything.

   See assemble character data for information about naming character elements in the packed character format.

5. The APEX Map Character SOP maps Electra’s rig controls to skeleton joints. This is so that the ragdoll motion can be baked back onto the rig controls.

   • Set Rig Path to /Base.rig.

   • Set Skeleton Path to /Base.skel.

   • Keep Map By Name turned on, so that the APEX Map Character SOP automatically performs a mapping between controls and joints that share the same name.

   • Enter the Map Character viewer state - select the APEX Map Character SOP, turn on its display flag, and press Enter over the viewport.

   • In the viewer state, click between the controls and skeleton joints. Entries in the Mappings multiparm will be automatically created.

6. (Optional) The APEX Configure Character SOP configures ragdoll properties on the character.

   If this node is included in the ragdoll setup, a ragdoll for the character is automatically created in the ragdoll tool. Otherwise, you will need to manually create a ragdoll in the animate state.

   Click beside Ragdoll Configurations. The Character Name is the name of the ragdoll that will appear in the animate state selection sets HUD.

7. The APEX Scene Add Character SOP adds the character files to an animation scene. Set the Character Name parameter to Electra.

Once the Electra ragdoll has been set up, there will be an entry for both the Electra character and Electra ragdoll in the selection sets HUD, under All Controls.

To turn off the display of the ground plane:

• Press ⌃ Ctrl + G to open the settings HUD.

• In the Ragdoll Settings ▸ Solver tab, turn off Ground Display.

To have a better view of the ragdoll collision shapes, use the handle to offset the ragdoll from the original animation:

If you play the animation, the ragdoll will fall on the ground plane, which is the default behavior for a ragdoll:

To get a prop to work with ragdoll, you need to turn the prop into a “character”. In this example, we add a thin box platform to the scene for Electra to stand on:

1. The APEX Scene Add Prop SOP turns the prop into a character and adds it to the scene.

   • The Prop Name parameter specifies the name of the prop character that will appear in the selection sets HUD. In this example, we set Prop Name to box_prop.

   • In the rig tree view, we can see that the APEX Scene Add Prop SOP creates a box character (.char) that contains a skeleton, rig, and skin.

2. The APEX Map Character SOP maps the box’s one control to its joint.

   • Set Rig Path to /box_prop.char/Base.rig.

   • Set Skeleton Path to /box_prop.char/Base.skel.

3. (Optional) The APEX Configure Character SOP configures ragdoll properties on the box.

   If this node is included in the ragdoll setup, a ragdoll for the prop is automatically created in the ragdoll tool. Otherwise, you will need to manually create a prop ragdoll in the animate state.

   • Set Rig Path to /box_prop.char/Base.rig.

   • Click beside Ragdoll Configurations. The Character Name is the name of the prop ragdoll that will appear in the animate state selection sets HUD.

   Note

   By default, the Skeleton Path and Collision Shapes Path are relative to the character (.char) in the packed folder structure (seen in the rig tree view).

4. Create the ragdoll collision shape for the box:

   • The Unpack Folder SOP, box_skeleton, extracts the box skeleton. Set the Extract Pattern parameter to /box_prop.char/Base.skel.

   • The Unpack Folder SOP, box_geometry, extracts the box geometry. Set the Extract Pattern parameter to /box_prop.char/Base.shp.

   • The Ragdoll Collision Shapes SOP creates the collision shape for the box. See create collision shapes for more information.

   Note

   If the prop has a concave surface, in the Ragdoll Collision Shapes viewer state, set Shape to Convex Hull, and Algorithm to Convex Decomposition. In the G HUD, adjust the Max Concavity to more closely match the shape of the prop.

5. The Pack Folder SOP adds the ragdoll collision shape to the set of character files for the box:

   • Set the Parent Folder parameter to box_prop.char.

   • The Name and Type parameters for the box ragdoll shape can be set to anything. We set Name to RagdollCollision.

   Note

   In contrast to the ragdoll setup for Electra, joint limits are not necessary for our box prop. As a result, the skeleton for the box is not updated with joint limits, and so we don’t need to add the box skeleton back into the set of character files.

6. Enter the ragdoll tool in the animate state, and play the simulation:

7. Use the handles to pose Electra on top of the box.

8. Update the ragdoll collision shapes to match the pose on Electra:

   • Press ⌃ Ctrl + G to open the settings HUD.

   • In the Ragdoll Settings ▸ Actions tab, click Reload Target Animation.

   • In the Reload Target Animation window that pops up, select the Electra ragdoll.

   • Click Accept.

   

9. Set the box to not be actively simulated ragdoll:

   • Select the box ragdoll.

   • Press ⌃ Ctrl + E to toggle the active state of the box ragdoll.

     or

     Press G to open the parameters HUD. In the Ragdoll ▸ Animated tab, turn off Active.

10. Increase the stiffness of Electra’s joints:

    • In the selection sets HUD, select the Electra ragdoll. This selects all of Electra’s collision shapes.

    • Press G to bring up the parameters HUD.

    • In the Ragdoll ▸ Animated tab, increase the Bend Stiffness.

11. Make the box slippery:

    • Select the box collision shape.

    • Press G to bring up the parameters HUD.

    • In the Ragdoll ▸ Constant tab, decrease the Friction.

In this example, a ragdoll simulation is added to the top character in the existing animation:

In ragdoll pose mode, you can manipulate controls to pose the character while the ragdoll simulation runs in the background.

In this example, we start with the following scene:

1. In the ragdoll tool, press O to enter ragdoll pose mode.

2. (Optional) To turn off the display of the ground plane:

   • Press ⌃ Ctrl + G to open the settings HUD.

   • In the Ragdoll Pose Settings ▸ Solver tab, turn off Ground Display.

3. In the selection sets HUD, under All Controls, there are sets for the Electra character, the Electra ragdoll, the box prop, and the box ragdoll. In ragdoll pose mode, we manipulate the Electra character’s controls, along with the Electra and box ragdoll collision shapes. In the selection sets HUD:

   • Turn on the display of the Electra character’s controls ().

   • Turn on the display of the Electra and box ragdoll collision shapes ().

   • Turn off the display of the Electra character and box geometries (). This makes it easier to see the ragdoll collision shapes.

4. By default, all the collision shapes in ragdoll pose mode are inactive - they do not react to other objects. When a control is selected, its associated collision shape becomes active. In the below video, the hand control is selected, and so the hand collision shape becomes active (turns a lighter grey color). The hand shape reacts to the box while the fingers remain inactive and go through the box:

5. To have the fingers also react to the box, make the fingers active:

   • Select the finger collision shapes.

   • Press ⌃ Ctrl + E to toggle the active state of the collision shapes.

   Note

   The character controls do not react to the collision shapes, so they appear to go through the box when the hand is being moved. Once the mouse is released, the controls snap back to the position of the collision shapes.